Rival Hearts (Little Falls #1)

3. Grady

Grady laid on the king size mattress in the middle of the living room. He purchased the run-down colonial style house on a whim a few weeks ago. The ceiling above him was cracked and more gray than white. He wasn't sure yet what had lured him back. Something had called him back home. Maybe his mom getting older, or that he and Trent rarely talked anymore, or maybe he was done with drifting.

Not that the reason mattered, the trip was already worth every penny he poured into moving back.

As soon as the curtains had drawn back on the stage and he saw Maggie Sullivan sitting with a stick up her ass a few rows back, her auburn hair caught by the edge of the stage lights, a fire lit inside him. On instinct, his fingers strummed the opening chords to the song he wrote about Trent and Maggie. Very few people understood his song, all the things said, the even greater number of things left unsaid. For years, he pictured Maggie's face while he played it. Last night, he'd gotten his wish, and for a brief moment, before she'd closed herself off, he'd seen what he wanted.

Guilt.

How did his town elect Maggie Sullivan as mayor? Made no sense to him. She was as false, as artificial as a person could be and still be somewhat human. A liar. A skilled one for sure, but were so many people in town fooled by her pretty face?

Beside him, his phone buzzed. Blindly, he reached for it and squinted at the name. Kelvin Brown, one of his best friends from high school was calling. Grady silenced it and set it on his chest. Hite and Zeus, his two dogs stirred beside him. As he returned his focus to the ceiling, he reached out a hand to scratch them both. For the most part, he preferred the company of animals to people. Like Grady, Hite and Zeus had traveled the world.

His fingers dug into the fur at Hite's neck. Maggie's comment last night about Grady chasing fame and fortune instead of looking after his family stung. When he'd scored an audition for Center Stage, taking the chance was a no-brainer. At twelve, his father had died, and Grady stepped into his shoes. The odd jobs he picked up when he finished high school had barely kept them afloat. Who wouldn't have gone after money and fame when the other option kept him and his mother in poverty forever?

Sitting up, he stretched and sighed. Maggie probably had no idea what he'd done after winning Center Stage, most people didn't. He wasn't going to explain his choices to someone like her. No matter how wary and surprised her brown eyes had been when they'd looked up into his last night, the truth remained. At one time she'd been a mystery he puzzled over, but that was solved the minute his brother was arrested. Maggie showed her true character in the days, weeks, and months afterward. Pretty, glossy surface. No substance. Not worth a second thought or even one sleepless night.

A fist banged against his front door. The dogs stirred around him but didn't bark. Grady grabbed the worn jeans off the floor next to his mattress and yanked them on. The pounding continued, and Grady sighed. Could only be one person. That level of annoying persistence was special.

Opening his door, Grady leaned his naked chest into the edge and waved Kelvin into the house. Shouldering past him, Kelvin glanced around the rundown entrance while Hite and Zeus circled him.

"I called you."

"I know."

"You should have fucking answered." Kelvin sounded pissed, but when he half-turned to look at Grady, his white teeth flashed in his dark face, taking the edge off his words.

He should have answered, but he couldn't get his head wrapped around seeing Maggie again. He'd known they'd run into each other eventually. Last night had been unexpected. "I was getting my head on straight."

"It's always just a little crooked. Why should today be any different?" Kelvin turned around in the foyer taking in all the decay. "You dozing this place to the ground or what? You're probably getting a lung disease sleeping in here."